I am absolutely doing English the right way, but it's obviously inefficient for most of us who are not speed knitters. You're dropping the needle, wrapping the yarn, then stitching, 3 processes.

You'll get more efficient if you don't drop the needle. Watch some videos by different english knitters on youtube and find a way to hang on to the needle and wrap the yarn. Don't look at the How To ones, they're slow and awkward; the one Jan linked to is a pretty good one.